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Journal
of Organizational Behavior Management
Guidelines for Publication Sections
•Download
Word document of these guidelines
Manuscripts
submitted to the journal may be reviewed for possible publication
within one of the following journal sections. Authors submitting
manuscripts to the journal must specify which of the below
categories their submission best fits into for purposes of
review and potential publication. Articles appearing in these
sections reflect various research and practical aims and the
review process for each section reflects these aims:
•Research
Articles
•Research Reports
•Reports from the Field
•Discussion Articles
•Comment Articles
•Book Reviews
•A Note for Reviewers
Research Articles
The Journal of
Organizational Behavior Management’s primary mission
is to publish articles that promote scientific research in
OBM. Scientific research methods and procedures permit researchers
to identify and change selected independent variables expected
to produce changes in dependent variables related to the
performance of people in organizations and attribute changes
in performance to the independent variable(s) by effectively
controlling for potentially confounding variables. For example,
eliminating confounding variables as potential causes of
performance changes other than the independent variable(s)
manipulated requires use of a comparison group, ABAB reversal
and/or multiple baseline experimental designs. In addition
to effective use of experimental designs, Research Articles should
include evidence regarding the means by which integrity of
each independent variable was assessed and must include evidence
regarding the means by which each dependent variable was
assessed and achieved. Therefore, papers that might qualify
as Research Articles will undergo a full peer-review
by as many as 5 scholars to ensure that they qualify as properly
controlled studies of meaningful organizational applications.
Controlled experimental analog-based assessments and examinations
of behavioral processes that might lead to understanding
of or account for relative success of organizational interventions
under field conditions will also qualify as Research
Articles. For example, the relative effects of differing
levels of feedback frequency on individual or group performance,
that might be impossible to assess in the field, might well
be functionally related to performance within a work simulation
or laboratory analog of an organizational task and its context.
Experimentally sound replications and extensions of previous
work are also acceptable as Research Articles. Research
Articles are expected to range from 20-40 double-spaced
pages, not including figures.
Checklist for reviewers:
- Clear description
of problem and research literature
- Clear description
of experimental methods
- Appropriate experimental
design (e.g., Multiple baseline, reversal or other “single
subject” design; appropriate group design)
- Clear demonstration
of effect
- Reliability of
dependent variable; integrity of independent variables is
a strength
- Clear discussion
of results
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Research Reports
Submissions for Research
Reports require less detailed descriptions of background,
methodology, or findings than Research Articles. Research
Reports provide contributors with an outlet for interesting,
scholarly, and potentially important contributions to the
empirical foundations of OBM that, at the moment, simply
cannot satisfy the criteria for full length Research
Articles. Authors should adhere to a limit of 200 typed
lines with the main text area (not including the title page,
abstract, or references) with up to 3 tables or figures.
The research report will be the primary outlet for the dataset
published so the author must agree not to publish an extended
version of the Report in another journal. Research Reports
will undergo expedited peer review to assess applied significance,
clarity of presentation, and reasonable data collection and
analysis. Reviewers will not hold Research Report submissions
to the same standards of experimental rigor required for Research
Articles.
Research Reports describing
follow-up data to a previously published project will also
be considered for publication. In this case, authors should
submit a report length treatment of the project wherein they
briefly review and cite the originally published work (which
could have been published in any peer-reviewed journal, not
only in JOBM), clearly describe the procedures used
to produce maintenance, and clearly describe and discuss the
maintenance effects. When preparing a follow-up Research
Report, authors should not resubmit originally published
data in the same format as they were published. They can, however,
report the mean levels of performance as reported in the original
work, for purposes of comparison to the follow-up data.
If the efficacy of
an OBM principle appears to be supported by otherwise reliable
data in spite of experimental shortcomings such as a lack of
an independent variable’s integrity, high face validity
of the variables might, nevertheless, be sufficient to support
publication of the data. Pilot studies and studies that do
not provide the full complement of controls required of Research
Articles but still do provide insights important to OBM
researchers and practitioners may be published as Research
Reports.
Checklist for reviewers:
- 200 line main
text area (not including title page, abstract, or references)
- Concise description
of problem and brief overview of research literature, demonstrating
applied significance
- Demonstration
of effect (can be attained through a believable size of effect
using an AB design, for example) worth examining in more
controlled experiments
- Clear description
of experimental methods
- Reliability of
dependent variable
- Clear discussion
of results
- Not held to the
same rigorous standards as are Research Articles
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Reports from the
Field
Data-based case studies
that describe the application of OBM principles in organizational
settings are valuable to the ongoing development of the field
and for this reason; some of these will be published in a Reports
from the Field section of the Journal. In many
instances OBM researchers and practitioners cannot use field
experimental intervention designs required to qualify their
study as a Research Article. At the same time, OBM
researchers and practitioners may systematically implement
OBM interventions that can be described in detail and, in some
cases, partial or complete data regarding performance changes
associated with the interventions may be collected and presented.
Papers reviewed for potential publication in the Reports
from the Field section will a) provide an adequate background
on the applied problem encountered, b) describe the behavioral
and practical considerations addressed to develop the reported
intervention solution, c) describe the application program
in sufficient detail that a person trained in OBM techniques
could effectively replicate the procedures and data collection
processes the authors used, and d) include an evaluation of
the OBM solution including cost-benefit analyses and social
validity data if available. Authors are also encouraged to
offer advice to readers regarding how their work might be changed
to satisfy requirements of a Research Article by other
OBM researchers that might replicate the intervention within
a field experimental design.
Authors should adhere
to a limit of 300 typed lines for the main text area (not including
the title page, abstract, or references) with up to 3 tables
or figures. Reports from the Field will be the primary
outlet for the dataset published so the author should not publish
an extended version of the Report in another journal. Reports
from the Field will undergo expedited peer review to assess
the contribution of the manuscript to OBM and clarity of presentation.
Articles that claim proprietary OBM processes and thereby do
not provide sufficient detail for replication will not be accepted
as Reports from the Field.
Checklist for reviewers:
- 300 line main
text area (not including title page, abstract, or references)
- Adequate background
on the applied problem
- Description of
the behavioral and practical considerations addressed to
develop the reported intervention solution
- Description of
the solution in sufficient detail that a person trained in
OBM techniques could effectively replicate the procedures
and data collection processes the authors used
- Experimental designs
and dependent variable reliability are preferable but not
necessary
- Evaluation of
the OBM solution including cost-benefit analyses and social
validity data if available
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Discussion Articles
Manuscripts that develop
foundations of behavior analysis or critically review a particular
areas of research in OBM may be accepted as Discussion
Articles. Discussion Articles will undergo full
peer-review by up to 5 scholars. They will evaluate the merit
of arguments made in the article and judge the usefulness of
the perspective developed in the manuscript with respect to
whether it is likely to advance research and/or practice of
OBM. The Journal’s Editors and/or members of
the editorial board often solicit meaningful commentary on Discussion
Articles.
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Comment Articles
Comment Articles take
the form of open letters to the readership addressing conceptual
and methodological issues, new lines of research, sources of
funding, historical issues and trivia, or address issues raised
in previously published articles. Commentaries will typically
be reviewed by the Editor and one Associate Editor. Commentaries
will generally be limited to 100 lines of text.
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Book Reviews
Many books are published
each year of interest to the Journal’s readership.
Authors wishing to prepare a review of a book should contact
the Journal’s Editor to propose a Book Review.
Reviews should contain the title of the book in the title and
provide a full APA citation of the book before proceeding with
their review. Reviews should be limited to 150 lines of text. Book
Reviews will typically be reviewed by the Editor or Associate
Editor to assure the review is compelling and provocative while
offering a fair and justified evaluation of the book.
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A Note for Reviewers
Reviewers will be
asked to review a given manuscript by considering it for one
of the above-described categories. In so doing, reviewers will
be expected to use respectful language that fosters an environment
of learning through constructive and positive feedback. Reviews
not adhering to these standards of professionalism may not
be included by the Action Editor for the manuscript. In addition,
reviewers will be asked to clearly classify their disposition
of the manuscript by assigning it to one of the following categories:
Accept as-is
Accept with
revisions
Reject and Resubmit to JOBM
Reject/Submit elsewhere
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